1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clothing, specifically to an undergarment configured to cover the hips of a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Undergarments or underwear are clothes worn under other clothes, often next to the skin. They keep outer garments from being soiled by bodily secretions and discharges, shape the body, and provide support for parts of it. Undergarments commonly worn by women today include brassieres and panties (also known as knickers), while men often wear briefs, boxer shorts, and boxer briefs.
A shirt, or dress shirt is a garment with a collar, a full-length opening at the front from the collar to the hem, and sleeves with cuffs. Shirts are predominantly used by men, since women usually wear blouses. The front opening is fastened using buttons or studs, and the cuffs close with buttons or cuff links. Shirts are normally made from woven cloth, and are often accompanied by a jacket and tie, for example with a suit or formalwear, but shirts are also worn more casually. Some of these formal shirts have stiff fronts and detachable collars attached with collar studs. Dress shirts are usually tucked into pants to present a professional look, however dress shirts typically move and pull out from the pants, thereby creating an undesired sloppy or messy look. There is a need of an undergarment that supports and secures the dress shirt thereto. Some improvements have been made in the field. Examples of references related to the present invention are described below in their own words, and the supporting teachings of each reference are incorporated by reference herein:
U.S. Pat. No.: 5,884,371, issued to Huggins, discloses a dressing aid for suspending a lower garment from an upper garment is disclosed herein comprising a band and a pair of clips, with one clip connected to each end of the band. Each clip comprises a pair of arms each having a handle at a first end and a jaw at a second end, a pivoting means, and a means for biasing the jaws to the closed position. One may engage a garment using the clip by squeezing together the handles such that the jaws separate, then releasing the handles to close the jaws about a garment positioned therebetween. It is contemplated that one will employ the present apparatus to aid in donning a lower garment using the following steps: assuming a seated position with the lower garment pulled up past one's knees; manually squeezing the handles of one clip together to separate its jaws, positioning the jaws about a portion of the upper garment and then releasing the handles to close the jaws and engage the upper garment; manually squeezing the handles of the other clip together to separate its jaws and to likewise engage a portion of the lower garment; and finally standing erect, with the lower garment suspended from said upper garment, and fastening the lower garment into place.
U.S. Pat. No.: 5,313,669, issued to Rasdell et al., discloses a new and improved clothing anchor apparatus, especially useful for anchoring the front and back tails of shirts, includes a first clothing connector, a second clothing connector, and an elastic strap connected therebetween. The elastic strap has a first end, an interior portion, and a second end. A strap length adjuster is located on the interior portion of the strap for adjusting the effective length of the strap. The effective length of the strap is adjusted by adjustingly doubling a portion of the strap. A soft, flexible jacket encompasses a portion of the elastic strap and the strap length adjuster. The jacket may also include a pocket for receiving and secretly storing soft, flexible items such as paper money. In use, preferably, two clothing anchor apparatuses of the invention are used. One clothing connector of each apparatus is attached to the front shirt tail, and the other clothing connector of each apparatus is attached to the back shirt tail by first passing under the crotch area. The soft, flexible jacket provides comfortable contact with the crotch area. The apparatuses of the invention serve to pull the shirt tails downwardly, giving the shirt a neat appearance and preventing the shirt tails from becoming untucked from pants that are worn.
U.S. Pat. No.: 5,276,923, issued to Cohen, discloses a central elastomeric web, having concave sides to accommodate an individual's groin area, includes the central web to provide a plurality of tether webs extending longitudinally beyond the central web, with each tether web including a latch fastener for securement to a perimeter portion of an individual's shirt in use.
U.S. Pat. No.: 4,074,364, issued to Lucero, discloses A hold-down device for shirts, blouses, etc., comprising an elastic hipband to be worn around the hips, elastic front and rear flaps secured to the hipband and converging downwardly to fit the crotch of the wearer. Upstanding tabs are spaced around the hipband with means for securing the lower portion of a shirt to the tabs.
U.S. Pat. No.: 4,596,569, issued to Campbell, discloses A shirt hold-down device for diaper-wearing infants and toddlers, having an elongated elastic unit fitting between the legs over the diaper or diaper holder and having garter-type fasteners on each end for gripping the shirt.
The inventions heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages which include being expensive, being limited in use, being limited in application, being uncomfortable to wear, being non-adjustable, being inefficient, being ineffective, being too complex, causing the underwear to bunch around a crotch area of a user, pulling too tightly against a shirt and thereby causing an unnatural appearance, and being burdensome to use.
What is needed is an undergarment that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.